Patty Duncan's Trees in Department 56 Villages: Creative and So Cute!

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree." 

(Roy L. Smith, from Quotegarden.com)

Several months ago I announced to my husband that the biggest village problem we have is trees.  Right now we only have two kinds: sisal pine trees and leafless birch.  Well, I do have one deciduous oak, but it is quite lonely.  

Patty Duncan, Tree Visualizer and Manufacturer Extraordinaire,
Founder and Vice President,
Southwest Villagers, Phoenix Area, Arizona

It was soon thereafter that someone on one of the chat rooms posted pictures from the Department 56 Happy Trails to Arizona Gathering.  Curious, I looked through them, and found TREES!  AND MORE TREES!  Trees by Patty Duncan, the Founder and Vice President of the Southwest Villagers Collectors Club in the Phoenix area! Patty has sent me a wonderful set of pictures, instructions for making trees, and ideas on how to craft trees to enhance specific buildings. And all these are Tree-mendous!

Patty Duncan's Trees used with Dept. 56 North Pole,
"Zenbolt's Handyman Shop," 808926

My favorites may be the trees Patty fashioned specifically for the North Pole building, Handyman Nutz Zenbolt.  First, she selected silver trees that go well with the corrugated silver roof on the shed, and the shiny metal parts all over the roof.   The trees in the back were from Walgreens last year.  On the far left and far right are trees from Lowes last year, onto which Patty glued nuts of various sizes, which mirror on the nuts on the building's chimney.  The large "bolt" trees are just that...bolts that Patty found and glued together!

Patty Duncan's Trees, used with Dept. 56,
North Pole,
"Baskets and Bows," #808925

Equally charming is the way Patty decorated the trees that complement the North Pole building Baskets and Bows.  Note that the tree on the left is wound with a garland, on which are both bows and wreaths with red bows.  These mirror the beautiful the red bows on the building above the windows, above the door, and even at the peak of the roof.  The tree on the right is simpler, but just as distinctive, using just bows.  I am sure you could make your own little bows from small ribbons, and even spray them with glitter.  You could also use puffy stickers, or Michaels other and craft sores will have tiny bows and wreaths designed for craft projects or dollhouses. In any event, the trees and the buildings create such a cute vignette it could stand alone, or enhance an entire village.

Patty Duncan's Trees, Used with Dept. 56, North Pole,
"Peppermint Pete's Candy Factory,"
#4016904 

Patty uses scrapbook or decorative paper in so many ways!  Here she cut out peppermint candy images from a sheet of the  scrapbook paper and stuck them onto a styrofoam tree with red and green decorative head pins she found at Michaels.  Just imagine how cute it would look if you made a walkway leading to Peppermint Pete's out of the same decorative sheets.  Patty has made me start thinking.  You could use actual wrapped peppermint candies glued onto styrofoam trees, or even red and white striped candy sticks, to mirror those on the building. 

Patty Duncan's Trees, in conjunction with Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Golden Ox Market," # 805533, "Welcome to Chinatown,'" #807253,
"Tea Time," #799950

In Patty's Chinatown vignette, we see one of her most creative tree solutions.  Here she has taken Dept. 56 white birch trees, and hot glued on spring florals and pussy willow buds.  The vibrant fuchsia is so evocative of Chinese spring.  Patty's display features the Department 56 Christmas in the City, "Golden Ox Market," along with the CIC "Welcome to Chinatown" and the Dickens Village "Tea Time."

Patty Duncan's Trees, in conjunction with Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
Jambalaya Cafe," #59265, "Caffe Tazio," #59253,
and "Handsome Cab," #59459

Patty's flamboyant use of Mardi Gras beads on trees enlivens a New Orleans vignette. She has not only wrapped the trees in beads, but even draped the "Handsome Cabs" with beads, and filled the carriages with gailey-wrapped presents.  In the background Patty has fashioned a background of green and purple fabric, traditional mardi gras colors.  Put together with the Department 56 Christmas in the City "Jamalaya Cafe" and "Caffe Tazio," a festive New Orleans scene is created. 

Patty Duncan's Trees.

Here are a series of trees, and the materials Patty recommends to use in making them. (Full instructions are at the end of this blog.)  In the back are Patty's red and green "Glittery Ball Trees," made from Hobby Lobby glitterballs, which were hot glued onto paper cone trees.  I wonder if you could also use little glass ornament balls?  On the gingerbread tree, front and left,  Patty used bric-a-brac and 3-dimensional scrapbook stickers in the shapes of Christmas bell, trees, and gingerbreads.  The gold trees in the back right are ornaments.  She snipped off the ornament hangers, and glued dowls onto the back so the trees could be supported by syrofoam.   The silver trees in the front center were also originally tree ornaments.  Patty glued them onto quarters to give them a base for standing, and then placed silver balls at the top to hide the ornament hooks!  On the front, right, is a simple evergreen tree, onto which Patty glued 3-D scrapbook figures of Mickey Mouse!

Patty Duncan's Trees, made from decorative paper.

In a women's magazine Patty saw a decorative tree idea, which she used for village applications!  (Patty's instructions are included at the end of this blog.)  Essentially, though, she cuts out circles of decorator or scrapbooking paper.  She folds them, and glues them onto skewers or small dowels, and tops them with stars from the same paper.

Patty Duncan's Trees, used with Dept. 56, Dickens' Village,
"Holly Tree Inn," #4016900

To the left you can see how Patty uses these kind of trees to enhance a display of Department 56 Dickens' Village Holly Tree Inn.  The decorative paper she used features garlands of holly with red berries, mirroring those in the Inn.  In the back on the right, by the way, is another example of Patty's technique of gluing 3-D stickers onto trees.  In this case, of course, the stickers are of holly leaves and berries.

Patty Duncan's Trees:
Autumn Pumpkin Display

Patty used the paper  technique described above to make autumn trees for use in a pumpkin display.  Notice how she has made the tops of the trees.  They are circles cut form the same paper, onto which Patty has applied autumn stickers featuring glitter leaves and rhinestones.  She found the stickers at Walmart.

Patty Duncan's Scary Trees!
"Halloween Trees"

Next year, when making your Halloween displays, remember Patty's Scary Tree technique. The Instructions are attached, below, under "Halloween Trees."  In short, using black scrapbook card stock, cut out 8 trees, then glue the bottoms, but not the tops, together.  Sprinkle black glitter onto a 9th cutout, and then glue that one on top of the stack of 8.  Glue a black dowel to the back of the trees, and fan the branches for dimension!  Wonderful effect.

Patty Duncan's Instructions for Christmas and Halloween Trees

     Spray paint green winter trees with black paint.  Decorate with glitter (I like Martha Stewart’s glitter).

     Hot glue flying ghost stickers to tree limbs of D56 trees (stickers are from Michaels).

     Paper trees are cut from black scrapbook card stock using a Cricut Electronic Cutter –Cartridge:  Paper Doll Dress Up-Frankenstein Accessories 3.  Glue bottom halves of 8 cutouts together.  Do not glue branches – only trunk of trees. Spray adhesive glue on 9^th cutout and sprinkle with black glitter then glue in on top of stack of 8.   Glue black painted dowel to back of trees to stand up in foam base.    Fan branches to add dimension.

Christmas Trees:

    Theme trees are easy to make.  Use scrapbook stickers or any embellishment that depicts the theme.  Hot glue in winter trees (Jolee’s 3 dimensional stickers are great).

    Peppermint Trees are also made from scrapbook decorative paper.  Cut peppermints out and stick pin to Styrofoam cone tree with decorative pins.

   Glitter Ball Trees.  Glue balls to paper cone trees with hot glue.  Glitter balls can be found at Hobby Lobby.

   Oriental Trees.   Hot glue Spring florals & greenery to D56 white birch trees.  Shape branches to allow florals to hang.

   Mardi Gras Trees.   Cut string of beads and hot glue to trees to replica beads thrown during Mardi Gras.  D56 bejeweled trees are perfect for this theme.

   Ornaments.    Use “tree” ornaments for an unique addition to your display.  Add base and tree topper.

Patty Duncan's Instructions for Three-tier Trees

Prep:   Cut three circles from decorative paper.  Scrapbook cardstock works best for sturdier trees.

Each circle should be ½ inch larger than the previous.  The circles for our trees are:  4½ inches, 3½  inches and 2¾ inches.  (I liked the look of 2¾ instead of 2½.)

Fold each circle in half four times.  When using heavier paper, you may have to make the last folds individually.  Unfold to reveal the “pleated” circles.

Snip a very small amount off the tip of each folded circle.

Assembly:  Thread the circles, largest one first, onto a painted wooden skewer. (do not glue yet)

Finish:  For the topper, glue two stars back-to-back over the top of skewer.  You can use other shapes for topper:  snowflake cutout or circle with designs from paper you are using.

Slide pleated circles into place on skewer and glue if needed on the underside (at skewer).  You can place & glue top pleated circle right up to your topper, or leave a space showing painted skewer between them.

Decorate tree with glitter glue, beads, or any small decorative item.

  Cut the skewer even with the bottom circle so the tree    will stand up, or leave some length to poke through   styrofoam in your village display.

  Decorate:  You can decorate your tree with scrapbook embellishments, glitter glue, and/or small buttons in the small design that is in your paper.  To make trees taller, add one or more tier(s) made ½ inch large than last circle.